Sunday, September 30, 2012

NFL Nail Art Series #4~ Miami Dolphins Nails

Hey y'all!  I hope you are all enjoying my nail art series so far, we are in week 4 this week.  For week 4 I chose the Miami Dolphins.

Go Dolphins!  





For this I used LA Colors Sea Siren, Pure Ice White, and Wet and Wild 9021Orange over orange acrylic paint.   The Dolphin is a mixture of Sea Siren and a dab Sinful Colors Black on Black. 

Saturday, September 29, 2012

OPI Berlin There Done That VS. Essie Miss Fancy Pants

Hey y'all!  This week I received a new Klout perk in the mail from Essie.  I got Essie Miss Fancy Pants from the new fall collection.  Honestly, as soon as I pulled it out of the box I thought it was ugly.  It's not something I would go into the store and think "OMG, I gotta have this!".  My next thought after thinking it was fugly was "I have another polish EXACTLY like this".  OPI Berlin There Done that from the new Germany collection.

I'll let you be the judge of "Exactness" but they are pretty spot on dupes in my opinion.


Berlin There Done That is just a tad darker than Miss Fancy Pants but not by much.  

Swatch of Essie Miss Fancy Pants

After putting them both on I completely take back my thoughts that they are ugly too.  It's actually a nice color on and I like it a lot.  

Swatch of OPI Berlin There Done That

Beauty Blogazons Weekly Roundup ~ 9/29/12

 Hey y'all!  Hope you're having a great weekend so far.  It's kind of rainy and gloomy here, perfect day to catch up on my favorite blogs.  Check out some of  The Beauty Blogazons' recent posts in our weekly roundup.  XOXO
 

Thursday, September 27, 2012

OPI DS Extravagance Swatch

Hey y'all!  I have an amazing swatch to share today.  I've had it for a while and I'm ashamed that it's taken me this long to actually share it.  OPI Extravagance from the Designer Series. 

My sweeter than sweet husband actually bought this for me as a little just because gift.  This is my first polish from the Designer Series.  I'm now on a mission to get as many as I can lol.  This polish is TO DIE FOR!!!! 


Extravagance is a gorgeous mulberry color with lots of holographic flecks.  It's beautiful in the shade and the sun.  My camera just doesn't capture the holo-ness very well, but trust me, it sparkles! 

(Taken in the shade)





Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Timewarp Challenge Day 6~They Sure don't Make em Like they Used to.

Hey y'all!  We're on Day 6 of the Lets Do The Time Warp Challenge, only two days left.  I hope you have been enjoying these posts as much as I have.  Lindsey came up with some great challenges, she's so creative!

Today's theme is "They sure don't make em like they used to", we were to do a mani inspired by a classic toy or game.  I chose a favorite toy in our household...Mr. Potato Head.  He's been around for a long time.  The first Mr. Potato Head hit store shelves in 1952.  Then it was just plastic parts that you stuck into a real potato.  He's evolved quite a bit since then.

Did you know he was the first toy to ever be advertised on TV?  I thought that was interesting.


I used China Glaze Sunshine Pop, Zoya Dominique, Sinful Colors Black on Black, Pure Ice White, Wet and Wild Sunny Side up, China Glaze Recycle.  


I love Mr. Potato Head, he was one of my favorite toys as a child (along with Barbie of course!).  What were your favorite toys when you were a kid?


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Blue rhinestones nail art

Hey y'all!  Today I have another Born Pretty Store rhinestone mani to share.  I love this manicure!  I used Essie No Place Like Chrome as my base color and blue stones from Born Pretty.  I LOVE silver and blue together, it's one of my favorite color combos.



This really isn't the most practical in the world but it's full of flash and sparkle and I do like that.  :)

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you have a great Monday! XOXO

Some items in this post were sent to me for review.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Time Warp Challenge ~ Day 5 ~ We Can Do It!

Hey y'all!  Today is Day 5 of the Let's Do The Time Warp Challenge.  The theme today is "We Can Do it!", we were supposed to create a mani inspired by an influential woman in history. 

I picked a woman that in my opinion is one of the most influential women ever, Marie Curie.  Her extensive work still saves lives every single day and she has been gone for almost 80 years.  She was the first woman to ever win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two fields, and the only person to ever win in multiple sciences.  She won Nobel Prizes for Chemistry and Physics. 

Marie Curie is famous for her research in Radioactivity, a word she coined herself.  Marie, along with her husband Pierre Curie, discovered Radium and Polonium. They also developed the use of radiation therapy for cancer treatment, as well as the first X-ray equipment. 


As you can imagine, in her time, she had to work very hard to be taken seriously as a scientist because she was a woman.  She was educated and dedicated her life to her work.  She passed away in 1934 from cancer caused by her close work with radioactive materials.

Her work is still highly used in the Twenty First Century, she is still saving lives every single day.  How amazing is that?

My mani today is dedicated to Marie Skłodowska-Curie, the most influential woman in history.



Thumb, Nobel Prize: Sally Hansen Golden-I and copper and gold acrylic paints
Index, Radioactive symbol: Kleancolor Neon Yellow and black acrylic paint.
Middle, Polonium Periodic symbol: Sinful Colors Black on black, Kleancolor White and white and black acrylic paints.
Ring, Physics symbol: Kleancolor White, NYC Big apple red creme, Klean color Neon Orange and black acrylic paint.
Pinky, Radium Periodic symbol: Sinful Colors Black on black, Kleancolor White and white and black acrylic paints.


Information sources: Wikipedia and Biography Online





Sunday, September 23, 2012

NFl Nail Art Series #3~St. Louis Rams Nails

Howdy, howdy!  It's Sunday again!  YAY!  I got my two favorite teams out of the way so now I'm going to go through the rest of the NFL teams that I didn't get to last year.  Today I have the St. Louis Rams. 




I was definitely inspired by the swirl of the ram's horn, I love it!  The blue polish is Wet and Wild Sapphire.  The gold and white are both acrylic craft paints.  I just didn't have the right gold polish for this, they were either too light or so glittery I would have had to do too many coats.  If you're a Rams fan, I hope you like it and I hope you think I did your team justice! :)

Go Rams! 

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Blue Dots

Hey y'all.  Hope you're all having a great weekend so far.  Today I have a cute polka dot design to share.  I used four different shades of blue for this mani.  I first painted my whole nail with Color Club Luminescent, then I did random dots with my dotting tools using China Glaze Electric Beat, Pure ice French Kiss, China Glaze Blue Years Eve and Color Club Luminescent. 

 
 

As I was working on this, I kept thinking "This looks like total garbage" lol.  (I'm my own worst critic!!) But as I added more dots it started to come together nicely I think.  I have always loved seeing other mani's like this but this is my first time trying it.

Thanks for reading my blog today, I hope you enjoy your Saturday.  XOXO 

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Time Warp Challenge Day 4 ~ Lights, Camera, Action!

Hey y'all!  We're on Day 4 of the Let's Do the time warp Challenge, today's theme is "Lights, Camera, Action!".  We were supposed to do a mani inspired by a nostalgic movie, song or piece of literature.

I chose one of my favorite movies of all time.  It's a chick flick classic and has a special place in my heart.  I chose to do "Steel Magnolias".  It gets quoted around my house quite a bit...probably daily lol.  There's just so many good quotes that pertain to everyday life.  I'll get back to that though.



If you have seen Steel Magnolias, I hope all of these things are iconic for you as much as they are for me.  My index finger is for the "Bleedin' armadillo grooms cake".  Middle of for Shelby's "Signature Color", The Magnolia is for the title of the movie as well as one of the opening scenes with Drum and Ouiser and the stolen Magnolias. And the pinky is for Shelby, it's a diabetes awareness ribbon. 




As I've said above and several times on my blog, Steel Magnolias is my all time favorite movie.  I can watch it over and over again and it will never get old.

Here are some of my favorite and nostalgic quotes:

"I'd rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothin' special"
"Nothin' like a good piece of ass"
"Looks good...looks real real good"....this one gets quoted A LOT around here haha.
"Drink your juice Shelby"
"I'm just screamin' at my husband; I can do that any time"
" I have a strict policy that nobody cries alone in my presence"
" The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize"
" Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion."
" Smile! It increases your face value."
" Ouiser could never stay mad at me; she worships the quicksand I walk on"
" A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste."
" Ouiser, you sound almost chipper. What happened today, you run over a small child or something?"
"My colors are blush and bashful"
"Her colors are pink and pink"
"the Sanctuary looks like it's been hosed down with Pepto Bismol"

Okay, I'll stop haha. I could really go on until I quoted the whole movie but I'll spare you, just go watch it, they're much funnier than I am, I promise.  :)


I used so many polishes on this, Wet and Wild Flirty Rose Creme, Sinful Colors Pink Forever, China Glaze Wicked Style, OPI Do you think I'm Tex-y?, Finger Paints Curator's Crimson, China Glaze Recycle, a light grey franken I made, OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! Okay Fine!, China Glaze Gaga for green and last but not least Sinful Colors Exotic Green. 

Thanks so much for taking the time to check out my post today, I hope you enjoyed it.  XOXO


Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Blue and white Needle Drag Tie Dye

Hey y'all!  Today's post is another version of my favorite technique, needle drag tie dye nails.  It's really is my favorite nail art technique.  I did a tutorial for Tie Dye nails too, you can view it in the Tutorials Tab at top of my page. 

I used China Glaze Blue Years Eve and Pure Ice White. 



I also seriously love Blue Years Eve, it's one of my favorite blues that I own.  It's so pretty and sparkly.  

Thanks for stopping by today, have a great day! XOXO

Monday, September 17, 2012

Time Warp Challenge Day 3 ~ I Remember When

Hello!  Today is Day 3 of Neverland Nail Blog's Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge.  Today's theme is "I Remember When".  We were supposed to do a nail art design inspired by a special event in history, well known or personal.  I chose to go personal with a very special day in my own history, my wedding day.

I was married to my wonderful husband, John, on May 6, 2000.  We had a small church wedding and it was absolutely perfect.  My nails for today's challenge were inspired by my bridal flowers.  I had a bouquet of dark red and cream colored silk roses.


You can see my bouquet in the background and I'm holding a little figurine that was part of the center pieces on the reception tables. 


 The polishes used were NYC Little Italy, Sally Hansen Shell We Dance?, Wet and Wild Flirty Rose Cream, Sally Hansen Red Zin, Finger Paints Curator's Crimson, The Color Workshop unknown name, Sinful Colors San Francisco and Sinful Colors Exotic Green.


We were married 12 years this year.  It's so hard to believe it's been that long, it feels like it was just yesterday.  But when I look through our wedding pictures I can definitely see how much we've changed. I can most definitely see that we've grown older lol.  He's much greyer now and I'm much more brunette haha.  


Thanks for stopping by today, be sure to check out the other participants below.  XOXO

Sunday, September 16, 2012

NFL Nail Art Series #2 ~ Dallas Cowboys Nails

Hey y'all!  Today is my second installment of my NFL nail art series.  Today I have another family favorite, "America's team", the Dallas Cowboys.  You either love em or ya hate em!  Or you're like me and you're just in the friend zone with them and love another team.  I'll root for the Cowboys as long as they aren't playing the Saints!  My husband is a huge Cowboy fan, so on December 23 when they play the Saints, we will be a house divided.  It should be interesting ;) 

For these Dallas Cowboy nails I used Essie No Place Like Chrome and Kleancolor Metallic Sapphire.



I'd like to thank my husband John for letting me borrow a few of his Cowboys thingys. He approved of my mani as well ;)  Hope everyone has a great Sunday!  Go Cowboys! 

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Black and White Splatter Gradient

Hey y'all!  Hope you're all having a great weekend so far.  Today I am a sort of accidental awesome mani to share.  I was trying to work on something for the Time Warp Challenge I'm currently participating in and ended up coming up with a pretty cool design.

I was trying to come up with something 80's -ish and wanted to do splatter tips and then do a neon design on the rest of the nail BUT I completely forgot to tape off the rest of the nail.  I think this was a good accident!



This is Pure Ice White and Sinful Colors Black on Black.  What do you think about my accidental mani?  XOXO 

Friday, September 14, 2012

Grumpy Carebear Nail Art

Hey y'all!  Today's nail art is from one of my favorite childhood cartoons and toys...Carebear!!!  Grumpy Carebear to be exact.  I just love this little guy.  He seems all grumpy and sad but I really think Grumpy just needs a hug.









Grumpy was done using Pure Ice White, Pure Ice French Kiss, China Glaze Electric Beat, China Glaze Kinetic Candy, and Zoya Dominique. 

XOXO 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

OPI Gradient & Swatches

Hey y'all!  A few weeks ago I did a post for Beale Street Inspired Nail Art.  They were done for a nail art contest with a Memphis theme. I don't think I ever posted here but I WON!!!  I was so excited that I won!  I got my contest prize last week and it is a doozy!  I won the entire OPI Germany collection and they are so beautiful. So today I am featuring three of the polishes from the collection.  I did a gorgeous gradient with them and did swatches to share too.


The polishes used are OPI Deutsch you Want Me Baby?, OPI Danke-Shiny Red, and OPI German-icure By OPI. 




OPI Deutsch you Want Me Baby?


OPI Danke-Shiny Red


OPI German-icure By OPI

Aren't they gorgeous?  I love them, they are so perfect for fall. I will be posting more swatches and nail art with the rest of the collection over the next few weeks so stay tuned.  XOXO 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Time Warp Challenge Day 2~It's Vintage Darling

Hey y'all!  Today is Day 2 of the Let's Do the Time Warp Challenge.  Today's theme is "It's Vintage Darling", nails inspired by fashion from the past.  I chose to do a design from the roaring 20's.  The Flapper dress! 

Flapper girls were very fashionable in their time.  They were women just trying to find a way in a man's world.


This was done using China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Kleancolor Red heart, NYC Big Apple Red, Sally Hansen Red Zin, NYC Times Square, OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons, China Glaze Electric Beat and Sinful Colors Black. 

Thanks for stopping by, be sure to check out the other participants below.  XOXO


Monday, September 10, 2012

Time Warp Challenge Day 1 - I should have been born in...

Hey y'all!  Today I have my first post for Neverland Nail blog's Lets Do The Time Warp Challenge.  Today's challenge was "I should have been born in...".  We were supposed to pick a year or decade that you wish you could have lived in. 

I had a hard time deciding on whether I wanted to do the 50's or the 70's.  In the end I went with the 70's.  There's not much I don't like about the 70's.  The music, the clothes, the flower power and the Peace, Love and Happiness.  I would have made a good hippie, I'm just sayin'.  ;)


 For this I used Pure Ice Platinum Base Coat (white), Klean Color Neon Purple, Klean Color Neon Yellow, Essie No place Like Chrome, Klean Color Catch Me, China Glaze Wicked Style and OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! Okay Fine! 


I am really excited about this challenge, I love seeing what everyone comes up with for Challenges like this.  And we have a lot of great ones over the next few weeks so stay tuned.



Be sure to check out the other amazing participants, you can view them below.

China Glaze Magnetix II



I have seen swatches of these and they look amazing, I can't wait to get my hands on them. 
 
   THE ATTRACTION CANNOT BE DENIED
China Glaze Introduces Second Collection of Magnetic Nail Lacquers

Los Angeles, CA - (September 2012): Magnetic nail art took the beauty world by storm earlier this year, creating a nail art force that was hard for anyone to resist.  Following the phenomenal success of its first-generation Magnetix collection, China Glaze® introduces Magnetix II, an expanded second collection of magnetic nail lacquers. 

As with the first Magnetix line, Magnetix II by China Glaze® is infused with iron powders that shift when exposed to the China Glaze® Magnetix II Magnet.  The China Glaze® Magnetix II collection features six dramatic metallic shades:
·         Gold Fusion – Rich gold
·         Positively In Love – Gorgeous magenta
·         Bond-Tastic – Soft rust
·         Get Charged – Dark lavender
·         Sparks Will Fly – Chic cobalt blue
·         Con-Fused? – Lively green



Along with the new shade line up, China Glaze® has created a second, specially designed magnet featuring three additional unique designs – a swirling circle, vertical lines and an intricate lattice.   The separate magnet allows more design options, especially when coupled with the original China Glaze® Magnetix Magnet.  Alternate designs, rotate the magnet, play with the positioning on the nail – the art creations are endless!

To create your own unique China Glaze® Magnetix II manicure:
1.      Select desired magnet design.  Choose from circles, vertical lines or lattice effects.

                       
2.      Apply one coat of China Glaze® Strong Adhesion Base Coat to clean nails; allow to dry completely.
3.      Designing one nail at a time for best results, apply one coat of Magnetix II nail lacquer.  Immediately hold the China Glaze® Magnetix II Magnet over damp nail for 5-10 seconds, positioning so the built-in finger rest holds it steady.  (If you happen to touch the magnet to damp polish, simply wipe clean with nail polish remover – it won’t damage the magnet.)
4.      Once the design is fully developed and nails are dry, seal with China Glaze® Fast Forward Top Coat.

China Glaze® has also released a step-by-step video for the Magnetix II collection which can be viewed on China Glaze®’s official YouTube Channel. 

China Glaze® Magnetix II is available now at salons and beauty supply stores nationwide with polishes and magnet sold separately.  The collection will be available in a 12-piece counter display and as open stock colors and magnet.

China Glaze® is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde.  For more information, visit www.chinaglaze.com, follow China Glaze® on Facebook (@ChinaGlazeOfficial) and Twitter (@ChinaGlaze).

China Glaze® is a division of American International Industries.

About American International Industries
For nearly 40 years, AII has been the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of innovative, quality beauty and skin care products for men and women.  Our product lines include Ardell, Andrea, Body Drench, Bye Bye Blemish, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman/Pinaud, Duo, European Secrets, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, Gypsy Lash, IBD, Jeris-Lustray, Nail Tek, No Tweeze/Micro Tweeze, 'N Rage, Prolinc, RAW, Seche, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Waterworks, Winning Nails, Woltra, Woody’s, and Youthair. For more information, visit our website: www.aiibeauty.com.